You know, I have a “coyote face” that I keep for the same exact reason. I believe there’s a spirit in her too. I only have just the one coyote part, I’m not “allowed” to simply hoard coyote parts, not even for ritual use, the point is in honoring *this* coyote. (and this is of course all my own UPG.)

I think when you have gods and spirits known to have certain ritual implements and tools associated with them, you really ought to have said tools. My gods are all very fond of the sistrum, I’ve specifically promised to do ritual where I play the sistrum to soothe them, and while mine is a very humble, no-frills one, I’ve named and consecrated it, and it gets an honored place in my shrine.

Firstly, a tool is just a tool. No tool is unto itself a means to an ends, and in the proper hands it can have a a much more powerful effect then in those which are not meant to use it. A skilled woodworker uses the tools of his trade, however not everyone can create the same beauty and function with the same tools. As Lupa said, the trick is not to transcend the use, but to find the correct ones, and what is correct for one may in fact have a detrimental effect on another.

Tools such as Robes (pelts), drums, feathers, antlers, or whatever it may be also enable the practitioner to bring in the skills of that Spirit, but more importantly (in my opinion) allow the practitioner to give life to that Spirit in this world again. This can most clearly be seen in the case of an Animal Dancer using a Robe, and that Spirit living again in the world they have passed from through the dancer. The pounding of the drum can be the heartbeat which can bring the people together, the crash of antlers together sounding the strength of the ungulates. Such tools also allow a consistent language to the Spirits, be it our own we develop and stick with, or come from a tradition (which may go back many many generations). Such “language” of action can make our intentions clear, and help oneself express what is being asked for in way of help.

For many who follow a totemic approach and/or an animalistic approach, tools can help us express the nature of “the beast”. They can help augment scope as well, most medicine people tend to find a degree of “specialization” (if you will) which can be somewhat limiting. Having items such as rattles, or drums, or feathers can help call in a more specialized assistance from the Spirits, and allow the individual to fill a gap in their immediate skills and abilities to help resolve a specific issue.

That all said, would the use of chants or breathing be a “tool” as well by similar definition? The drum and the rhythm can help put a mind in order for the ritual or ceremony to take place. Songs, chants and breathing exercises, along with forms of mediation (including physical, such as Yoga or Tai Chi) do much the same thing, helping set the mind in order and direct the conscious focus. The mind is arguably yet just another tool in the chest! Crucial as I see it, but yet another tool to be used when needed.

I feel that there is no superior means, much as there is no single path. And anyone who would think argue that there is one, I would suggest they take their piety and cut it against how they feel about the Catholic Catechism. The best means is very individualized, and even then is constantly in flux as we learn more of ourselves and the universe around us. A student should be expected to exceed the teacher, and if they do not grow beyond the constraints of the teacher that cannot happen. Even in a tradition passed down, it evolves, grows, and changes over time to accommodate this, and new traditions form. To grow fertile ground is needed, and if a tool can help that, all the better.

My primary objection to tools is when mages use them as *crutches*: learning ritual magic with tools, and then never bothering to learn what actually powers their workings and *why* the tools have the effects they do. It would be stupid to say that tools shouldn’t be used in ritual — they’re force multipliers; why let pride cripple your effectiveness? — but, like all tools, in order to wield them to full effect you have to understand them and apply them correctly. If you don’t know how to do a ritual without tools, you don’t know how to do a ritual with them.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that I agree: the idea of “transcending” tools is retarded and completely backwards. A ritual tool doesn’t become less effective as you gain experience — not unless you’ve been doing it wrong from the start.

I’m someone who had an allergic reaction to the magpie syndrome, and my own tendency toward abstraction (Queen of Swords) made it that much easier for me to want to just remain in my head.

During the past few months, however, I’ve been starting to understand more about the importance of linking otherworld workings into the material plane, and your observations about play and physical involvement confirm my intuitions and (rather limited) experience.

I know that there is more to the tools I use than the altered consciousness aspect. However actively engaging in altered consciousness is very important too.

Again, I am happy for people who don’t want to use tools, but it does not make them superior or advanced. Its another option that may or may not be better.

Of course we can always say, well if it works for you go for it, but I would experiment with whether it truly works better for them or is just an effort to “surpass” the “need for tools”.

Sometimes you need things because you need them and doing without them and having poorer effects in your magic isn’t instantly virtuous.

For many neopaganism is a choice not to reject the material and physical. One shouldn’t embrace the material that is devoid of spirit to excesses. It may leave them lonely and alienated. But the material infused with spirit, nature, and wilderness, and yes tools can be a part of a neopagan experience.

Thanks again for such a thoughtful post!

I was trained, in the n00b years, to work without tools *for basic energy work* — stuff like grounding, centering, shielding. The idea was that these were useful things to be able to do, regardless of whether you had access to a special tool. It’s the equivalent of learning to fall in a martial arts class — odds are good that you’ll need to use it sometime with little warning and *not* in a controlled environment.

And I think there are situations where one could find oneself without tools but needing to do ritual. If you find yourself jailed after a political protest, you might be better able to deal with it if you know you can do a ritual with just your mind and body, than if you freak out because you feel you *can’t* do anything without your tools. Complete tool-dependence, in my mind, is reminiscent of learned helplessness.

Reading your article clarified my understanding of my own preferences. I don’t believe tools are *necessary* to pray (though I *like* to make offerings or burn a candle), and I feel that 100% dependence on tools in order to simply pray would be a handicap. I don’t believe tools are *necessary* to do magic (though I often *like* to do so), and I feel that 100% dependence on tools to work basic magic would also be a handicap.

But ritual? Ritual is more than simple prayer, it’s more than basic energy work. It is sacred theatre, it is a song sung in symbols, it is order and wildness harmonizing through artistry. It needs to engage the Fetch (Moon Self, Animal Self, Child Self) in more concrete ways, needs to be embodied more deeply, needs to be a bit more sensual. So tools — including scents, artwork, color, dance, rhythm, sound — enhance the ritual, they don’t *just* provide a shortcut to a mental state or speed-dial a spirit or deity. The process and the richness of the whole is synergistic.

For ritual, the benefits of using tools are numerous. It might be a useful exercise to try a ritual without tools, to know one can do it. But beyond that, I’d only do so when circumstance makes it the only option. Ritual without beauty, sensation, symbols, and embodiment would be like sex without pleasure. It could be done if one had some strange must-procreate-to-save-the-species situation, but if you have the choice, do it well!